The Merritt Wedding in Music City
Today we are excited to share with you Thomas and Jessie's stylish Nashville wedding, complete with details iconic to Music City.
(This is the last of our 2015 series βWednesday Weddings.β Weβll be back with more each February and July. However, we do feature weddings one-two times a month in our Southern Edition, so you can get your fix there! Special thanks to our Wedding Sponsor: Omni Hotels and Resorts Nashville.)
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Today we are excited to share a wedding from event planner Amos Gott. Jessie Salisbury and Thomas Merritt married last November with great help from Amosβs creative and elegantΒ event planning firm, AmosEvents. He shared Jessie and Thomasβs lovely day with us, which we in turn are thrilled to share with you.Β
Amos Gott:
They say all roads lead to Nashville, and thatβs where Jessie Salisbury and Thomas Merrittβs friends headed to celebrate the coupleβs special wedding weekend!
A chance meeting, Jessie was out with her girlfriends who were in town for the holidays having a nightcap at Broadway Brewhouse following dinner at Tavern.
When she was getting up to leave, a handsome stranger stopped her and said, βJessie?β
She nodded, surprised that he knew her. This man she had neverΒ met said, βOne of your friends came over to borrow a chair from our table. I told her she could have the chair if she told me your name.β Having heard many a pick up a line, Jessie said, βOkay, not bad β¦ β and they stood and talked for about 20 minutes. Thomas got her number, and they went on their first date rightΒ after Christmas. Jessie knew after their second date at Firefly Grille that Thomas was the one.
Thomas proposed to Jessie in July on a hike in Breckenridge, Colorado. That morning as she washed her face and pulled her hair into a ponytail, the last thing she was expecting was a proposal. As they progressed along the hike Jessie grew more and more confused since they were not actually ascending the mountain and just circling the base. It all became clear when they got to a gorgeous overlook and Thomas looked at her and said, βYou know how happy you make me, right?β Then he dropped to one knee, pulled a ring box from his pocket and asked her to marry him. [They recently returned to the same mountain and completed that hike as husband and wife with friends just a few weeks ago!]
Jessie and Thomas wanted a wedding with a Nashville feeling that was true to who they are as individuals and as a couple. Christ Church Cathedral, an Episcopalian sanctuary establishedΒ in 1829 with stunning Tiffany windows, suited Jessieβs religious upbringing and Thomasβs love of history and architecture. The church felt like a perfect fit.
Every Nashville wedding should have a venue unique to the couple and to the city. Jessie and Thomas loved the feeling that ONE above the Cannery provided, with exposed brick and originalΒ wooden beams and gears. Unique and not stuffy, the venue gave the coupleΒ another opportunity to express their love of the city as well as provide a blend of elegance with Nashvilleβs comfortable, rustic charm.
Thomas, originally from Dallas, fell in love with Nashville when he came to Vanderbilt as anΒ undergraduate. Jessie grew up in Franklin, so the wedding menu had to have unique twists as a nod toΒ both regions. Thomas wanted a taco station to represent his home state, and Jessie wanted a biscuit bar with hot chicken and other βfixinsβ.
Jessie met Juanita Lane when she worked at Basanteβs in college, and she always knew she wanted Dulce Desserts to make her wedding cake. βIβll never forget Thomasβ face when he tasted her salted caramel filling at our cake tasting,β Jessie said.
The Respectables brought down the house.Β OpeningΒ with βEvery Girlβ by Turnpike Troubadours, the band allowed Jessie to surprise Thomas with one of his all time favorite songs. The fact thatΒ the couple had also taken dancing lessons to the tune certainly helped!
Both fantastic dancers, Jessie and her mom Debra Brake enthralled the crowd with a choreographed dance to a mashup of great dance songs.
And of course the band had to play βJessieβs Girlβ as aΒ nod to the bride!
Leaving the party under the glow or sparklers, Jessie wore aΒ fur stole celebrating friendship as it belonged to theΒ great-grandmother of two close friends who are sisters. One wasΒ her maid of honor and the other a bridesmaid.
Jessie said that if she and Thomas could get married again tomorrow, they would do it all exactly the same way. βIt was an unforgettable night made up of our whole lifeβs choices, and I would choose it all again.β
Congrats to the happy couple, and we wish you years of love and happiness!
RESOURCES
Planner: Amos Gott of AmosEvents
Ceremony: Christ Church Cathedral
Reception: ONE at Cannery Row
Bride: Romona Keveza gown from Kleinfeld
Groom: Custom tuxedo from Stitch It
Florals and dΓ©cor: AmosEvents
Catering: Chefβs Market
Cake: Dulce Desserts
Rentals: Music City Tents and Events
Photography: SheHeWe
